Side wall bracket for cable tray

ABSTRACT

A cable tray and at least one side wall bracket secured to the cable tray wherein the cable tray has a plurality of transverse and longitudinal wires. The side wall bracket has angled legs defined by a U-shaped inside leg portion and a hook that leads to an outside leg portion. The inside leg portion of each angled leg engages a first surface of side longitudinal wires and bottom longitudinal wires and the outside leg portion of each angled leg engages a second surface opposite the first surface of side longitudinal wires and bottom longitudinal wires to secure the side wall bracket to the cable tray.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/171,891, filed Feb. 4, 2014, which claims priority to U.S.Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/761,990, filed Feb. 7, 2013, thesubject matter of which is hereby incorporated by reference in itsentirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a cable routing system, and moreparticularly, to a side wall bracket for cable trays in a cable routingsystem.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Overhead cable routing systems typically include a cable basket or acable duct. The cable basket or cable duct includes integral sidewalls.Various routing devices are installed on the cable basket or cable ductduring installation. Often the sidewalls of the cable basket or cableduct need to be cut when a tee, cross or right angle pathway is created.As a result, installation of the typical cable basket or cable ductpathway is time consuming, costly and creates sharp edges.

Applicant invented a new cable routing system that has been described inApplicant's U.S. Patent Publication Nos. 2011/0284283; 2011/0284701; and2011/0286785 and U.S. Pat. No. 8,424,814. The cable tray described inthe pending patent applications includes longitudinal wires andtransverse wires with downwardly extending sidewalls. Various devicesmay be added to the cable tray to form the cable routing system.

It would be desirable to provide removable side walls that are easilyinstalled on the cable tray to retain the plurality of cables routed onthe tray.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a cable tray and at least one sidewall bracket secured to the cable tray. The side wall bracket retainscables routed on the cable tray. The cable tray includes a plurality oftransverse wires with a top portion and downwardly extending side walls.The cable tray also includes a plurality of longitudinal wirespositioned underneath the top portion, side longitudinal wires andbottom longitudinal wires. The side wall bracket has angled legs definedby a U-shaped inside leg portion and a hook that leads to an outside legportion. The inside leg portion of each angled leg engages a firstsurface of the side longitudinal wires and the bottom longitudinal wiresand the outside leg portion of each angled leg engages a second surfaceopposite the first surface of the side longitudinal wires and the bottomlongitudinal wires to secure the side wall bracket to the cable tray.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cable tray with the side wall bracketof the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the side wall bracket of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the side wall bracket of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the side wall bracket of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the side wall bracket of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6A is a partial end view of the side wall bracket of FIG. 2 beinginstalled on the cable tray.

FIG. 6B is a partial end view of the side wall bracket of FIG. 2partially installed on the cable tray.

FIG. 6C is a partial end view of the side wall bracket of FIG. 2installed on the cable tray.

FIG. 7 is an end view of the side wall bracket of FIG. 2 installed oneach side of the cable tray.

FIG. 8 is a front view of the side wall bracket of FIG. 2 installed onthe cable tray.

FIG. 9 is a front view of an alternative side wall bracket installed onthe cable tray.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As discussed above, Applicant's U.S. Patent Pub. Nos. 2011/0284283;2011/0284701; and 2011/0286785 and U.S. Pat. No. 8,424,814, hereinincorporated by reference, describe a cable tray 50 for a cable routingsystem 20. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the cable tray 50 includes aplurality of transverse wires 52 and a plurality of longitudinal wires62. The transverse wires 52 include a top portion 54 and downwardlyextending side walls 56. The top portion 54 forms a generally flat topfor supporting cables routed thereon. Longitudinal wires 64 arepositioned underneath the top portion 54 of the transverse wires 52. Aside longitudinal wire 66 is positioned adjacent to the inner side ofeach side wall 56 and a bottom longitudinal wire 68 is positioned at thebottom of each side wall 56.

FIGS. 2-5 illustrate the side wall bracket 100 of the present invention.The side wall bracket 100 is formed from a single piece of wire. Theside wall bracket 100 includes an upper loop portion 110 and angled legs120. The upper loop portion 110 has a first end and a second end. Curvedportions 112 extend from the first and second ends of the upper loopportion 110. The curved portions 112 lead to the angled legs 120. Eachangled leg includes a U-shaped inside leg portion 122, a hook 124, andan outside leg portion 126. The distal end 128 of the outside legportions 126 are angled away from the center of the side wall bracket100. Each hook 124 is designed to engage the side longitudinal wire 66of the cable tray 50 to secure the side wall bracket 100 to the cabletray 50.

As illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5, the angled legs 120 of the side wallbracket 100 enable the hook 124 to be formed with a large radii whilemaintaining the necessary dimensional opening for the angled legs 120 tokeep a firm grip on the side longitudinal wire 66 of the cable tray 50.The large radii hook 124 provides for improved manufacturability of theside wall bracket 100. FIG. 4 illustrates the large radii hook 124 andthe leg opening 130 of the side wall bracket 100. FIG. 5 illustrates aside view of the side wall bracket 100 positioned in an installedposition without the cable tray. In the installed position, asillustrated in FIG. 6C and FIG. 7, the upper loop portion 110 extendsvertically in a plane perpendicular to the cable tray and the angledlegs 120 of the side wall bracket 100 are positioned at a 45 degreeangle with respect to the cable ray 50. As such, the dimensions of thelarger radii hook 124 and the leg opening 130 appear smaller when theside wall bracket 100 is in an installed position.

FIGS. 1 and 6-8 illustrate the side wall bracket 100 of the presentinvention and the cable tray 50. FIGS. 6A-6C illustrate the side wallbracket 100 being installed on the cable tray 50. The side wall bracket100 is positioned such that the hook 124 is aligned with the sidelongitudinal wire 66. As indicated by the arrows in FIGS. 6A-6C, theside wall bracket 100 is pushed downward until the side wall bracket 100snap locks onto the side longitudinal wire 66 of the cable tray 50. Asillustrated in FIG. 6C, the inside leg portion 122 is positioned behindthe downwardly extending side wall 56 of the cable tray 50 and theoutside leg portion 126 is positioned in front of the downwardlyextending side wall 56 of the cable tray 50. Thus, the inside legportion 122 engages a first surface of the side longitudinal wires 66and the bottom longitudinal wire 68 and the outside leg portion 126engages a second surface opposite the first surface of the sidelongitudinal wire 66 and the bottom longitudinal wire 68 (see FIG. 6Cand FIGS. 7-9).

FIG. 7 illustrates the side wall bracket 100 of the present inventioninstalled on each side of the cable tray 50. The side wall brackets 100prevent the wire bundles 70 routed on the cable tray 50 frominadvertently falling off of the cable tray 50.

As illustrated in FIG. 8, a side wall bracket 100 of the presentinvention is installed on the cable tray 50 between two transverse wires52 of the cable tray 50. The side wall bracket 100 may be attachedanywhere along the downwardly extending side walls 56 of the cable tray50. The inside legs 122 and the outside legs 126 are offset to allow theside wall bracket 100 to maintain a firm grip on the cable tray 50. Thisenables the side wall bracket 100 to be installed or removed, whennecessary, without an excessive amount of force.

As illustrated in FIG. 9, an alternative side wall bracket 200 isinstalled on the cable tray 50. The alternative side wall bracket 200includes an upper loop portion 210 with a curved portion 212 that leadsto angled legs 220. Each angled leg 220 includes a U-shaped inside legportion 222, a hook 224, and an outside leg portion 226. The distal end228 of each outside leg portion 226 is angled inward towards a center ofthe side wall bracket 200.

The side wall bracket of the present invention is easily installed onthe cable tray, where desired, to retain the plurality of cables routedon the cable tray.

Furthermore, while the particular preferred embodiments of the presentinvention have been shown and described, it will be obvious to thoseskilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made withoutdeparting from the teaching of the invention. The matter set forth inthe foregoing description and accompanying drawings is offered by way ofillustration only and not as limitation.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A cable tray and at least one side wallbracket secured to the cable tray for retaining cables routed on thecable tray, the cable tray and side wall bracket combination comprising:a cable tray having a plurality of transverse wires including a topportion and downwardly extending side walls, a plurality of longitudinalwires, wherein the longitudinal wires are underneath the top portion,side longitudinal wires and bottom longitudinal wires; at least one sidewall bracket installed on the cable tray and extending above the topportion of the cable tray to assist in retaining the cables on the cabletray; wherein the at least one side wall bracket having angled legsdefined by a U-shaped inside leg portion and a hook that leads to anoutside leg portion; and wherein the inside leg portion of each angledleg engages a first surface of the side longitudinal wires and thebottom longitudinal wires and the outside leg portion of each angled legengages a second surface opposite the first surface of the sidelongitudinal wires and the bottom longitudinal wires to secure the atleast one side wall bracket to the cable.
 2. The cable tray and sidewall bracket combination of claim 1, wherein each hook is U-shaped, theU-shaped inside leg portions and the U-shaped hooks extend in directionsopposite each other.
 3. The cable tray and side wall bracket combinationof claim 1, wherein the inside leg portions are parallel to the outsideleg portions.
 4. The cable tray and side wall bracket combination ofclaim 1, wherein the inside leg portions and the outside leg portionsare offset to allow the at least one side wall bracket to maintain afirm grip on the cable tray.
 5. The cable tray and side wall bracketcombination of claim 1, wherein the outside leg portions having a distalend, wherein each distal end of the outside leg portions are angled awayfrom a center of the at least one side wall bracket.
 6. The cable trayand side wall bracket combination of claim 1, wherein the outside legportions having a distal end, wherein each distal end of the outside legportions are angled inward towards a center of the at least one sidewall bracket.
 7. The cable tray and side wall bracket combination ofclaim 1, wherein each hook, outside leg portion and inside leg portiondefine a leg opening that grips one of the side longitudinal wires ofthe cable tray.
 8. The cable tray and side wall bracket combination ofclaim 1, wherein the angled legs of the at least one side wall bracketare positioned at a 45 degree angle with respect to the cable tray.